Technical Abstract:
The presence of Salmonella Gallinarum (SG) was recently identified in brown egg layers in Colombia. During 2013, twenty isolates were analyzed using Intergenic Sequence Ribotyping. Eighteen (90%) were SG and two (10%) were Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). SG was isolated mainly from organs of sick birds (liver, spleen, bone marrow, and ovary follicles) and from environmental samples (feces, feeders, manure belts, cages). SE was isolated from organs. In the affected houses, the mortality distribution pattern was mainly focal and severe egg drops were not observed. Some risk factors were identified; they were related not only with the widespread of the disease, but also with its persistence. The top ten risk factors were as follows: kind of housing, improper operation of the manure belts, improper handling of the manure, delay of the removal of dead birds, high iron contents in water, high water turbidity, no removal of biofilm and sediments from water pipes, inadequate traffic of the staff within the farm, high stocking density in houses, and multiage farms. Fowl typhoid is a very difficult and costly disease to eradicate. Contrary to other reports, our results showed that SG can often survive in the environment. Although in many countries the successful control was achieved with the elimination of positive birds, this practice is frequently not economically viable in large multi-age companies or in developing countries. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the potential persistence of the risk factors and to implement measures to avoid or prevent the widespread of the disease.